Chapter 6Diagnosing What's Wrong
Joe Kirsch spent about twelve seconds looking over the spreadsheet in front of him before the veins startled pulsing in his head. Finally, in measured tones, he bristled: “I don't need some kid coming in here fresh out of college telling me how to run my sales force. My gut instincts work better than any spreadsheet.”
Pam had expected an adverse reaction, but now she understood just why Jim had suggested they meet Joe, the VP of North America sales, in Trajectory's crowded company cafeteria.
“Joe, these are just preliminary ideas,” Pam explained. “There will be more discussion before we implement anything new. Jim and I just wanted to bring you in the loop, so we can incorporate your feedback.”
“I don't want to know any more about the latest fad,” said Joe. “The whole process is a waste of time.”
“I get it,” interjected Jim. “I had doubts myself. But I think data analytics is right. The way we're talking about things make a lot of sense.”
“Jimbo, you've only been with Trajectory for two years, I've been here for twelve,” countered Joe, pulling a power move. Of course, Pam realized this was a not so subtle jab at her own short tenure. “I've seen new leaders come in and try to implement ideas that worked for them at their previous companies,” continued Joe, “and they failed, because these new people didn't understand our culture. I understand this company, and I know how to solve our sales problem. If we're going to make our revenue goals, we need ...
Get Data Driven: How Performance Analytics Delivers Extraordinary Sales Results now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
